IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3336-d1630901.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Key Attributes Driving Yacht Tourism: Exploring Tourist Preferences Through Conjoint Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Eui-Yul Choi

    (Department of Leisure Sports and Tourism, Youngsan University, Busan 48015, Republic of Korea)

  • Won-Yong Jang

    (Research Institute for Regional Development, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 25913, Republic of Korea)

  • Tae-Hyun Park

    (Department of Leisure Sports and Tourism, Youngsan University, Busan 48015, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The study aims to identify key attributes driving yacht tourism and analyze their relative importance using conjoint analysis. This method quantifies attribute importance and utility values to evaluate their impact on consumer choices and optimize market segmentation strategies through attribute combination simulations. The research was conducted with a sample of 484 yacht tourists at yacht marinas, focusing on four key attributes: program, safety, service, and accessibility. The analysis revealed that yacht sailing programs were considered the most important attribute overall. However, preferences varied significantly depending on prior experience. Experienced yacht tourists ranked the attributes in the following order of importance: program, safety, service, and accessibility. In contrast, inexperienced tourists prioritized safety above all, followed by program, service, and accessibility. The study identified that all tourist groups preferred the same optimal combination: “a yacht sailing experience program that provides safety education and equipment, operates a tourism information platform, and is accessible within one hour by public transportation from the city center”. Although this optimal combination was consistent across groups, the utility values differed, with experienced yacht tourists exhibiting the highest values, followed by inexperienced tourists and overall tourists. The findings highlight the importance of prioritizing both sailing programs and safety measures in yacht tourism development, while also considering tourists’ experience levels. These insights provide practical implications for the development of targeted promotion strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Eui-Yul Choi & Won-Yong Jang & Tae-Hyun Park, 2025. "Key Attributes Driving Yacht Tourism: Exploring Tourist Preferences Through Conjoint Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3336-:d:1630901
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3336/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3336/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cinzia Battistella & Maria Rosita Cagnina & Lucia Cicero & Nadia Preghenella, 2018. "Sustainable Business Models of SMEs: Challenges in Yacht Tourism Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Figen SEVINÇ & Tülay GÜZEL, 2017. "Sustainable Yacht Tourism Practices," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 61-76, May.
    3. Ulengin, Burc & Ulengin, Fusun & Guvenc, Umit, 2001. "A multidimensional approach to urban quality of life: The case of Istanbul," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 361-374, April.
    4. Cristina Coscia & Francesca Pasquino, 2023. "Demand Analysis Models to Support Cultural Tourism Strategy: Application of Conjoint Analysis in North Sardinia (Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Eui-Yul Choi & Woo Jeong Cho, 2021. "Personal Watercraft Incident Court Decisions: The Plaintiff’s Odds?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-10, May.
    6. Yunhao Yao & Zishan Li & Xiaoxing Zhou & Merle Parmak, 2023. "Yachting Tourism Consumption Potential and Its Influencing Factors: Considering 12 Coastal Cities in China as Examples," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-16, August.
    7. Helena Zentner & Daniela Gračan & Marina Barkiđija Sotošek, 2022. "Digital Business Models in the Hospitality Sector: Comparing Hotel Bookings with Yacht Charter Bookings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    8. Jhih-Sian Sun & Ho-Don Yan, 2018. "Competitive advantages and the transformation of Taiwan's yacht industry," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 16(4), pages 421-441.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María E. Aguilar-Fernández & José Ramon Otegi-Olaso, 2018. "Firm Size and the Business Model for Sustainable Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-27, December.
    2. Maria Rosa De Giacomo & Raimund Bleischwitz, 2020. "Business models for environmental sustainability: Contemporary shortcomings and some perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3352-3369, December.
    3. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    4. Andreas Moursellas & Debashree De & Thomas Wurzer & Antonios Skouloudis & Gerald Reiner & Atanu Chaudhuri & Theodoros Manousidis & Chrisovalantis Malesios & Konstantinos Evangelinos & Prasanta Kumar D, 2023. "Sustainability Practices and Performance in European Small-and-Medium Enterprises: Insights from Multiple Case Studies," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 835-860, June.
    5. Anna V. VERSHININA & Elena R. ORLOVA, 2019. "The tourism industry in Russia: Problems of public administration," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 16-27, March.
    6. Huang, Chun-Che & (Bill) Tseng, Tzu-Liang & Li, Ming-Zhong & Gung, Roger R., 2006. "Models of multi-dimensional analysis for qualitative data and its application," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 174(2), pages 983-1008, October.
    7. Saad Saleem Bhatti & Nitin Kumar Tripathi & Masahiko Nagai & Vilas Nitivattananon, 2017. "Spatial Interrelationships of Quality of Life with Land Use/Land Cover, Demography and Urbanization," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1193-1216, July.
    8. Kontic Dean & Rodek Jelena & Sekulic Damir, 2024. "Differentiating Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Participation in Nautical and Adventure Sport Tourism: Cross-Sectional Analysis," Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism, Sciendo, vol. 31(4), pages 46-51.
    9. Nunzia Capobianco & Vincenzo Basile & Francesca Loia & Roberto Vona, 2021. "Toward a Sustainable Decommissioning of Offshore Platforms in the Oil and Gas Industry: A PESTLE Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    10. Luca D’Acci, 2014. "Monetary, Subjective and Quantitative Approaches to Assess Urban Quality of Life and Pleasantness in Cities (Hedonic Price, Willingness-to-Pay, Positional Value, Life Satisfaction, Isobenefit Lines)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 531-559, January.
    11. Hernita Hernita & Batara Surya & Iwan Perwira & Herminawaty Abubakar & Muhammad Idris, 2021. "Economic Business Sustainability and Strengthening Human Resource Capacity Based on Increasing the Productivity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Makassar City, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-36, March.
    12. Mariia Kravchenko & Daniela C. A. Pigosso & Tim C. McAloone, 2020. "A Trade-Off Navigation Framework as a Decision Support for Conflicting Sustainability Indicators within Circular Economy Implementation in the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, December.
    13. Esfandiar Zebardast, 2009. "The Housing Domain of Quality of Life and Life Satisfaction in the Spontaneous Settlements on the Tehran Metropolitan Fringe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 307-324, January.
    14. Xiao Li & Jiarou Cao & Zhenggang Liu & Xinggang Luo, 2020. "Sustainable Business Model Based on Digital Twin Platform Network: The Inspiration from Haier’s Case Study in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, January.
    15. Ulengin, Fusun & Ilker Topcu, Y. & Sahin, Sule Onsel, 2001. "An integrated decision aid system for Bosphorus water-crossing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(1), pages 179-192, October.
    16. Tomasz Bernat & Aleksandra Gasior & Renata Lisowska & Katarzyna Szymanska & Razvan Zaharia, 2023. "Involvement’s Barriers of Micro and Small Firms into EU Energy Transition," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(63), pages 541-541, April.
    17. Wendy Anzules-Falcones & Juan Ignacio Martin-Castilla & Ana Belén Tulcanaza-Prieto & Diana Caamana-Gomez, 2024. "Entrepreneurs in Rural Tourism: Reciprocal Influence of the Environment and Personal Factors on Business Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Aleksandra Łapko & Roma Strulak-Wójcikiewicz & Marek Landowski & Radosław Wieczorek, 2018. "Management of Waste Collection from Yachts and Tall Ships from the Perspective of Sustainable Water Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    19. Andreja Pucihar & Gregor Lenart & Mirjana Kljajić Borštnar & Doroteja Vidmar & Marjeta Marolt, 2019. "Drivers and Outcomes of Business Model Innovation—Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Morais, Paulo & Camanho, Ana S., 2011. "Evaluation of performance of European cities with the aim to promote quality of life improvements," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 398-409, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3336-:d:1630901. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.